Rivlin thanks French victor Macron for stance against anti-Semitism

He spoke with "the French president-elect to congratulate him on his victory", White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. Macron has stepped down as head of the movement now that he's president-elect to be replaced by Catherine Barbaroux, who has a management background in both business and government ministries.

Mainstream parties on the left and right that were frozen out of Sunday's runoff in a first for modern France, also are regrouping, aiming to clip Macron's wings and impose their political agenda, via parliament, on his five-year term.

According to Richard Ferrand, the En Marche! campaign manager, the organization has so far managed to attract 285,000 members.

Half of his candidates for the 577 seats up for grabs in the general election will be newcomers to politics, he has said.

French nationals working in Singapore expressed relief at the results of the presidential polls in France, saying that the prospect of the country's economy closing off to the world has been averted. "You will win next time - and so will I!"

Tuesday 9 May: Mr Macron will mark the EU's Europe Day, the annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe.

14 May: President François Hollande formally hands over power to Mr Macron, who will start to announce his ministers, including a PM.

The results revealed Macron was favoured among wealthier, better educated citizens in cities, while Le Pen drew support in the countryside as well as poverty-hit areas in the south and rustbelt northeast.

Initial estimates showed Macron winning between 65 percent and 66.1 percent of the ballots - a higher than expected score - and Le Pen scoring between 33.9 percent and 35 percent. "The growing threat of terrorism and violent extremism is accompanied by an escalation of local conflicts and the destabilisation of entire regions", Putin said in a congratulatory telegram released by the Kremlin.

"In these conditions it is especially important to overcome mutual mistrust and unite efforts to ensure worldwide stability and security", Putin told Macron. If another party wins a majority, Macron could be pressured to choose a prime minister from that party.

It's also a further dent to the populist tide that many blame for Britain's vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as US president.

Earlier, Le Pen told supporters she had called to congratulate Macron after exit estimates projected her heavy defeat.

"This is a victory for the French people and for European cooperation".